Baseball without thinking of Dr. Evil

We won't mention the man by name today. We'll try to avoid doing it ever, because he is one of the most hated people in South Florida.

Yep, on the South Florida popularity scale, he is in the same neighborhood as Scott Rothstein. He has a long way to go to be as popular as Rick Scott.

He owns the baseball team that you want to love, but you can't. That's because Dr. Evil's general arrogance and smugness and condescension have been enough to turn rabid baseball fans into soccer fans.

But I don't want him to take away my love of baseball, and you shouldn't want that either.

So today I offer the best way to expunge Dr. Evil from your thoughts — head out to Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, and watch his Marlins in spring training.

Trust me, an afternoon there and you will feel cleansed.

Not surprisingly, the first person my family and I encountered at the stadium was a vendor who wanted to bash Dr. Evil. We listened for about five minutes, and then moved on as we learned again why spring training in South Florida is the best time of the year.

You want to know what is so great about spring training? I'm so glad you asked.

People actually care. Nobody cares about football exhibition season. Nobody. Same with basketball. But people flock to spring training baseball because of the relaxation and laid-back atmosphere and the chance to clear one's mind. It works. Trust me.

You find the players are actually real people. They sign autographs without scowling. They take pictures. They talk to their girl friends. They talk to women who want to be their girl friends. They chat with you. Believe me, once the season starts, they aren't this real anymore.

You find yourself maybe 10 to 15 feet from the players for much of the day. You find yourself interested in somebody you never heard of, probably never will hear of, and who is wearing number 89. But you talk to him. And he talks back.

They don't have the hideous home run sculpture in the outfield like Dr. Evil has placed at Marlins Park. Nope, they just have outfield walls with advertising on them that makes the whole place feel like an old-time ballpark. And that's a good thing.

Players and coaches and even the manager will occasionally toss baseballs into the stands. Trust me, this is a whole lot cooler than the folks who have those t-shirt guns at major league stadiums.

You still have grown men wearing team jerseys with their own name stitched on the back. This may be one of the five geekiest things on earth, but somehow, at spring training, it just blends in.

They call out lucky numbers and you can win something like an oil change. Not exactly like winning the Powerball drawing, but you'll see people awfully excited if their number gets called.

If you try, you can even chat up players and coaches between innings while the game is going on. You might even get an autograph between innings from some player or coach sitting on a chair next to the dugout. Yes, it happens.

There are people sitting on the grass near the outfield. There are vendors dancing on top of the dugouts. You will get a smile and a wave from former Marlin manager Jack McKeon, who is 82 years young and still wears a uniform and hangs out on the field and acts like he knows everybody, which he does.

The whole thing is pure and refreshing and reminds you of why baseball is the best game of all.